Dancing is like magic. It makes me disappear. When I dance I’m not a sister or a daughter, not a lover or a friend. I exist in the moment, onstage, where I turn pain into art and pretend the illusion is real. My past is an abomination and my future is unwritten, but my present is pure, fluid, and focused. I’m content, or at least I think I am, until the night I meet a man who makes me want more.

He’s broken, just like me, but in different ways. He’s older and nothing like the men I’m used to. Compared to him, they’re all boys, immature and insipid, while he’s a force of nature, confident and virile. Virile is a word I’ve never used before, and I only use it now because he embodies it so completely.

At first, he fights the attraction between us almost as hard as I do. But when words like destiny and soulmate whisper through my thoughts, how can I ignore them? He can have any girl he wants, but he looks at me as if I’m the girl he’s waited for his whole life. How can I tell him I’m not that girl?

I wish I were enough for him, wish I were whole. But beneath my facade, I’ve been falling to pieces for a long time, and I don’t know if I’m strong enough to resist the downward momentum.

“What can I do to help?” he asks. “You can kiss me.” Cole goes still. Wide-eyed, I gaze up at him. I can’t believe I just said that. God knows I want to kiss him. “It doesn’t have to be anything more,” I say when he doesn’t move. “Just a simple kiss to relieve the tension, because we want to, because it will feel good. It doesn’t have to be a complication.” Surprise flickers in his eyes as they search mine. He licks his lips but still he hesitates, and I want to scream in frustration. Where’s the Cole I met two years ago, the one who homed in on me like a laser at Blackburn’s? The one who in his own quiet way made it impossible to refuse him. Before I can think better of it, I push up onto my toes and wrap my arms around Cole’s neck, pushing my body flush against his. “Please,” I whisper, ashamed that I have to beg but willing to do it anyway. His jaw flexes and thoughts war behind his eyes, but finally his arms come around me as his lips slant over mine. He pulls me closer, and when his hand fists in my hair and gently tugs my head back to deepen the kiss, I’m lost to him. Cole takes control and there’s no slow buildup, no gradual descent. Passion consumes us, and it wouldn’t matter if a tornado came tearing through the yard. I wouldn’t notice. But somehow Cole keeps his wits about him. He drags his mouth from mine. “Langley,” he says, his gaze focused above my head toward the slider into the kitchen. Thinking quickly, he moves us to the side, out of view. “Did she see?” My heartbeat is frantic, my body strung tight. “I don’t think so.” We stand there and catch our breaths together. He rests his chin on my head because neither of us have relaxed our arms. We still have them wrapped around each other. “A kiss between us is complicated, Nikki. Let’s not fool ourselves.” Slowly, I unwind my arms from his neck. “Why? Because of Renee?” He leans back to look at me. “Because of us. Because of how this feels.” This feels incredible, but I can already sense him pulling away. He’s shutting down again, and my racing heart beats even faster because I’m going to ask the question that hangs between us. The one reason I’m most afraid is the source of his hesitation.

Author Bio

Debra Doxer was born in Boston, and other than a few lost years in the California sunshine, she has always resided in the Boston area. She writes fiction, technical software documents, illegible scribbles on sticky notes, and texts that get mangled by AutoCorrect. She writes for a living, and she writes for fun. When her daughter asks when she’ll run out of words, her response always is, “When I run out of time.”

We are thrilled to share the cover of Dark Mafia Prince by New York Times bestselling author, Annika Martin! Releases on June 28th!

Blurb:

I spent years making myself invisible. A good girl, apart from the noise.
Then you came back.
Wrapping my hair in your bloody fist.
Beautiful and deadly in your Armani suit.
Don’t act like you still know me, you say.
But I remember when we were best friends.
Before they lowered your small casket into the ground.
Before they told us the prince was dead.

I’m a NYT bestselling author living a stone’s throw away from the Mississippi with my awesome husband and two cats in a home full of plants, sunshine and books. I'm heavy into writing love stories about criminals--some of them are dirty and fun (my Kinky bank robbers!) others are dark and intense (Prisoner!)
I also write gritty romantic suspense as the RITA-award winning author Carolyn Crane.

Avery Collins has just landed her dream job, pastry chef for the posh-Manhattan restaurant Clover. Her new boss, Trace Montgomery, even helped with securing her an affordable place to live: a beautifully restored carriage house owned by his friend, Rafe McKenzie—a man that makes her catch her breath and stirs her imagination. Trouble is, he's involved with someone, his father is being released after 25 years in prison and Avery is just his tenant. Exploring the attraction that sizzles whenever they're together would be the icing on the cake, but Avery knows all too well that you can't have everything. Of course, what's cake without icing?
Rafe McKenzie's world shattered at nine when his father Liam—the only parent he knew—was arrested and convicted for armed robbery. Growing up in the system, Rafe managed to survive his childhood and now has a job he enjoys, a house he's restoring and a tight circle of friends. He's even working on reconciling with his dad, both eager to put the past in the past.
Happy for the income a tenant would bring, Rafe agrees to rent his carriage house to Clover's new pastry chef. When Avery Collins pulls up his drive, she's not at all what he's expecting. Funny, sexy and as sweet as her desserts, it doesn't take long for things between them to heat up. Just when it seems as if they'll have their cake and eat it too, the past comes back with deadly intent leaving Rafe to figure out who's pulling the strings before his world shatters again.

L.A. Fiore is the author of several books including: Beautifully Damaged, Waiting for the One and A Glimpse of the Dream. She's also the social secretary for her two children, a tamer of ill-mannered cats, the companion to one awesome dog and married to her best friend. She likes her wine red, her shrimp chilled and her social gatherings small and intimate.

An undeniable love
keeps them together, but is young love enough in a world full of temptation?

With Flynn's career
on the line can he accept what Valerie proposes? He knew he could trust her
with his heart, but is that the same as believing in her?

He knew she could be
persuasive and he wanted to give her the world, but was she ready to take the
world on with him?

(A contemporary rock
romance 18+)

Excerpt
& Teaser

I knew
I’d never love anyone my whole life the way I loved him. I read about
once-in-a-lifetime events that happen to a tiny minority of people. Since the
day I’d met Flynn, there had been two in my life. One where he slashed a gaping
hole in my heart and climbed inside, and one where my heart splintered into a
million pieces with the death of my brothers. In the short time Flynn had come
back into my life, I’d felt things I never thought I would feel again. A
damaged heart that healed in response to his love until it wasn’t afraid to
pick up the pace when he stared lustily in my direction. A heart that skipped a
beat and fluttered at his touch, then squeezed when he said something to me
that showed his vulnerable side.

K. L. Shandwick
started writing after a challenge by a friend when she commented on a book she
read. The result of this was "The Everything Trilogy." Her background
has been mainly in the health and social care sector in the U.K. She is still
currently a freelance or self- employed professional in this field. Her books
tend to focus on the relationships of the main characters. Writing is a form of
escapism for her and she is just as excited to find out where her characters
take her as she is when she reads another author's work.

During one of the darkest moments in Allison’s life, she met two men. She loved them both, but not equally. One made her feel alive when she was so close to feeling dead inside. The other made her feel safe, protecting her against the world.

One took her heart, and then vanished.

The other settled for her friendship, but never stopped loving her.

Two hearts.

One choice.

The rocker who became her rock.

Or the flame who's burned her more than once.

One she can’t live with.

The other she can't live without.

What do you do when the one who broke you is the only one who can fix you? And the one who has always been there, hiding in the shadows for his chance, is now taking center stage?

Gina Whitney is the author of six novels, Blood Ties, Beautiful Lies, Saving Abel, Forgiving Gia, Avenging Us, and Luca. In December 2015, she partnered with Leddy Harper to release The Power of a Woman. She is known for her themes of erotica wrapped around soul-searing passion that bring her readers into the story with a range of emotions.

Gina resides in Massapequa, NY with her two beautiful boys. You can usually find her typing furiously while shouting obscenities over her latest WIP or reading a book that sends her heart racing. She's pathologically obsessed with anything to do with royals, Games of Thrones, Billions, Vampire Diaries, Homeland, SOA, The Vikings and The Originals. If you'd like to chat, hit her up on Facebook or Twitter.

It’s all Angela Peters has wanted for the last twelve years. Determined to keep their focus on their band, Panic Station, she and Garrett made a pact that they’d never sleep together. No relationships. No distractions. Now, on the brink of getting everything she wants, she wakes up in bed with her drummer the day before their big tour begins, a recipe for disaster.

Love . . .

Garrett Donalson has been in love with Angela since they were twelve years old. The moment she broke their pact, he thought he’d finally found his forever with her. Unfortunately, the road to success is paved with lies and deceit, leaving Garrett fighting to keep the girl he’s wanted for so long.

Sometimes holding on to what you have is harder than getting what you want.

Angela wrinkled her nose as the smoky air of the bar coated her skin like a grimy film. She'd been in plenty of smoke-filled bars over the years, but the initial assault on her senses always bothered her. The bar was crowded, a country band played on the stage, and couples sat at small tables sharing snacks and drinking. The two of them went unnoticed, and it was glorious. Enjoying the feeling of being ordinary again, she and Garrett grabbed seats at the bar. “What'll you have?” the bartender asked. “Jack and coke.” Angela looked at Garrett and grinned at his stupefied expression. “He'll have the same.” She forced a chuckle as she watched him, a niggling strand of jealousy working its way into her head. The bartender was a gorgeous brunette with skintight jeans and curves women would pay big bucks for. “Don't fall into her cleavage.” His guilty expression said it all. Busted. “It's fine. Even I had to look,” she admitted. They sipped at their drinks in companionable silence. She was hyper-aware of his thigh brushing against hers, the spicy scent of him—somehow more appealing than it had ever been. “So, Aiden and I were asked to come on The Rich Morton Show in a few weeks,” she offered, attempting to distract herself from his appeal. Deep brown eyes connected with hers and an unwelcome fluttering began low in her belly. “Wow, that's a really big deal. This song is really taking off, huh?” He took a long pull from his drink and offered a weak grin. “It's just one song.” “And a fake relationship . . .” Her heart hammered as he uttered the words. “Shh, someone might hear you.” “I'm not so sure it's fake for him,” he muttered under his breath. The spark of anger in her belly flared at his comment. “I don't want to talk about this right now.” “Okay, sorry. What should we talk about?” “We don't spend any time together anymore. I miss my writing partner. I miss the feeling I get when we make something good.” “I miss that, too.” Those beautiful eyes found hers again, and she squirmed in her seat. The music had stopped and the band stepped down from the stage. They applauded politely, though they really hadn't been listening. She watched with mild interest as a wannabe cowboy with the beginnings of a beer belly sauntered up to the microphone. “Excuse me just a minute, y'all.” He held up a hand. “It was just brought to our attention that we've got ourselves two thirds of Panic Station sittin' right over there at the bar.” “Oh, God,” she muttered, feeling her face redden. Garrett grinned at her like an idiot. “This is so cool.” Wannabe Cowboy waved at them. “So, maybe we can persuade them to give us a little show. What do y'all think?” The crowd cheered and whooped. She looked from the stage to Garrett, then back. “Shall we?” he asked, holding a hand out to her. She shrugged and grinned. “I guess so.” Garrett grabbed the offered guitar and she walked over to the piano unsure of what song they should play. Her palms were sweaty as she ran her fingers over the keys. He came around and whispered, “Only,” in her ear. A chill ran up her spine. That was the last song they'd written together, right before the tour. No one had heard it. She leaned up to the microphone and adjusted it before clearing her throat. “Hi, my name's Angela Peters and this is Garrett Donalson. This song is called Only.” Garrett counted off and they played. As she sang and he harmonized she felt close to tears. The lyrics were so painful now, now that she knew what they really meant. He'd written this about her, about them, how he felt, and she'd ignored it. As the song died down to the last strains, her heart clenched. She watched him watch her and couldn't quell the urge to feel his arms around her. As soon as the crowd was applauding she jumped up and strode toward him. Alarm registered on his face as she approached and he quickly handed off the guitar before her arms were around him. Burying her face in his chest to hide the tears, she held him tightly. “I'm sorry I hurt you,” she choked out. He hugged her to him and kissed the top of her head. “I know.”

Kim Loraine is the author of the “Golden Beach” series, including “Restoration” (2015) and “Renovation” (2015). She started writing at a young age, scribbling down song lyrics, short stories, and poems she was too afraid to share with anyone. Busy working as a music teacher in her Pacific Northwest hometown, it wasn’t until her family of four picked up everything and moved to beautiful Japan that she decided to finally take the plunge and send her characters out into the world.

The central theme in Kim’s books is self-discovery, whether that is found through taking risks, breaking down walls, or admitting mistakes. Kim likes to write characters that seem like someone you actually know, who find that life is a journey not without its challenges.

When not writing Kim spends her time with her husband, chasing around their crazy kids, exploring Japan, and binge-watching Doctor Who on Netflix.

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I received an arc in exchange for an honest review
Just a warning to people that if you don't like dark reads then this isn't the book for you, as there are scenes of violence and taboo subjects.
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